blogzone: Wedding in Mexico

Back to reality. Yesterday was spent unpacking, doing laundry, putting suitcases away, and cleaning the house after I left it with Pat and Michael still home.

Last Thursday Kelsey and I headed out the door at 4:30 am. The temperature was already in the mid 60's. It was due to be a warm one in Seattle-summer was finally here. Our flights were uneventful, and we arrived in Puerto Vallarta mid afternoon. And it was raining. :-( It was a warm rain-but gray skies, and no sign of the rain stopping. Yes, I know it's the rainy season there, but I was expecting the afternoon thunderstorm to blow through, not the all gray blah.
The all inclusive resort, Barcelo, was beautiful. Champagne was offered upon our arrival, and we were quickly checked in to our room. I had booked the junior suite, and was surprised to see that we had been upgraded to a family suite, which had a separate room and bathroom for Kelsey! (she decided to share the king bed in my room, but the spare room came in handy later) We were on the 6th floor, out of 8, and had great views of the pools, and Bay of Mismaloya.
The reason for our travel to Puerto Vallarta was to attend the wedding of Todd Weber (Michael and Kelsey's cross country coach, and my friend) and Dory Pearce (Kelsey's recent AP European History teacher, and my running buddy/friend). Dory greeted us shortly after our arrival, and had booked us for a dinner that evening. It continued to rain, but we were busy meeting the families.
Friday morning we awoke to more gray and rainy conditions. Kelsey and I had breakfast and walked the beach in the rain. I was worried about not bringing the correct clothing, as I mostly brought bathing suits to be by the pool all day! By noon, the rain stopped. With the temperatures in the 80's it was quite comfy to sit by the pool and read. Kelsey even got a little burned through the clouds. Friday night the guys took Todd out for his bachelor party, and the girls stayed at the resort and met for dinner.
Saturday was a mixture of clouds and sun, with rain off and on too. By then, most of the friends had shown up, so we just hung out at the pool getting to know everyone. Kelsey and I had an umbrella to keep things dry. Saturday night we went into town for the rehearsal dinner. El Arrayan was closed for our private party. Yummy food!
Sunday-WEDDING DAY! We awoke to beautiful sunny skies! (Dory's mom, Cathy, went to mass that morning-we think she was heard) The wedding party left the resort to go to the wedding site by noon. The rest of us, lounged by the pool all day. It was tough, let me tell you!! Kelsey learned that having drinks and a cheeseburger delivered to you, poolside, is quite nice. We all boarded taxi vans and arrived at Le Kliff by 7pm. What a gorgeous site to be married. The sun was still shining. The only downside was that it was HOT! There was no breeze, even though we were on the water. This will go down as the sweatiest wedding ever! All of us were glistening.
Dory was a beautiful bride-she was just beaming with happiness. And, I think it was the first and last time I will see Todd in a suit. The dinner and reception was also incredible (and still hot!). Dory stayed in her dress most of the evening. I was able to get it bustled. My friend from work, Shirley, did an amazing job altering and adding the hooks to bustle the dress. Dancing was fun (yes, I was wearing my running shoes by then-not a nice look) It was over much too quickly and we were back at the resort by 1am. Here is where our extra room came in handy. Todd's best man, Eric, had been sharing Todd's room. And Dory was with her mom. As you can imagine-Eric did not want to share a room with newlyweds! He stayed with us, before he flew out the next day.
Monday, just another relaxing sunny, hot day at the pool. More like IN the pool. We all got plenty of sun that day. Kelsey and I went through two cans of sunscreen in 5 days. That evening we were sitting at dinner (outside buffet). The wind started. It hadn't been windy at all since we arrived. We watched the sun set. I took a few pictures, and as I turned around to look east-the skies were green/gray-thunderstorm color! And, it stormed-thunder, lightning, heavy rain!!
Tuesday-going home day. It was the muggiest day yet, likely due to the storm. Kelsey, Todd and I walked out to the point. Dory had gone on a hike with her brother and his wife. Then Kelsey and I just finished packing, ate some lunch, and said our goodbyes. Our flights home were just as uneventful as going there.
I think that covers it. Now let me share some pictures: